Was the Sun, Moon, and Stars actually created on the fourth day of Creation...

[Armchair Apologist]

Big Bang theorists postulate a flat universe curved in on itself with no edge or center, like the surface of a balloon. If you traveled in a straight line long enough from any point in space, you would eventually end up where you started. The Big Bang wasn't an explosion in the middle of 3-D space. It was 3D space coming into existence and expanding.

I think we can agree with them that space was created along with time, matter, and energy that comprises the universe. They are also saying that we have a "multiverse" with countless other universes occurring randomly as ours did in order to address the random probability that everything we observe in our observable universe came into being by chance rather than believing "In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth."

But that is neither here or there.

What is described in Genesis is the creation of a spherical universe. If you traveled in a straight line long enough from any point in space, you would eventually reach the edge.

Why I read it as spherical, is that there was an expanse, called heaven created in the midst of the waters. It divided the waters which were above the heavens, from the waters which were below the heavens. The waters which were below the heavens were the seas and oceans of the earth.

According to this, when God "Separated the waters from the waters," he set the "heavenly bodies" (Sun, moon, stars, galaxies, etc) in this "heaven" below the (upper) waters that were above the (lower) waters. The "Third Heaven" is understood to be above the "upper waters" if I am still making sense here.

It also seems clear that according to this, God first created the space and then filled it.

Within the expanse, God placed the sun moon and the stars.

Now, that the notion that the stars were pre-existing is untenable is evident by the commentary of Moses in exodus, for in six days God made the heavens and the earth, and all that in them is.

I don't think I said anything about the stars pre-existing. I believe that they were "spoken into existence" along with the rest of God's creation and it could have occurred just as easily in Gen 1:1 as it could've in 1:14-17. Gap theorists believe that the stars were pre-existing from the "original creation" of which I believe we would both disagree.

Moses' commentary is a general observation. I am not sure where we could find any actual "order" of creation but what we do see is an assertion that God created the world in six literal 24-hour days. I think we could also acknowledge the fact that God was able to speak his entire creation into existence in a single nanosecond. There was a specific reason and purpose for the way that God went about with his creation.

Perhaps God created the Earth first and then set it in orbit around the sun on the fourth day? It certainly could've happened that way. I know that the Genesis account is not a "Scientific" account of how he did it, just that he did it. One of our ladies in our study last night spoke of the verse in Job that says "God hangs the earth upon nothing" which is a simple stated fact. Science may try to examine how he hung the earth on nothing but theology declares that he did.

 

[Armchair Apologist]

Sounds alright generally for the sun and moon but it doesn’t explain the stars.

I’ll stick to a body of material made on day four, understanding.

I wasn't getting what he was saying. I am thinking from the standpoint of opacity; that standing on the earth, you could see the light from the sun as you would on an overcast day but not actually see the sun until the fourth day. This is how a "gap theorist" would explain it anyway.